Automatic textile machine



Oct. 10, 1933. E. 1.. FLOYD AUTOMATIC TEXTILE MACHINE 4 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Jan. 29. 1930 Jwmwtoz [/1744 LF/yd Oct. 10, 1933. E. L. FLOYD AUTOMATIC TEXTILE MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 g'wuewboz f [Ii M LF/yd Oct. 10, 1933. E. L. FLOYD AUTOMATIC TEXTILE MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 10, 1933. FLOYD AUTOMATIC TEXTILE MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I F I I I'IH r'i h" U J gvwwvbo'n f/l'jdf? L. Floyd M3 mm,

Patented Got. 10, 1933 1,929,970 AUTOMATIC TEXTILE MACHINE Elijah L. Floyd, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Adler Underwear and Hosiery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 7 Application January 29', 1930. Serial No. 424,262

-9 Claims. (Cl. 11210) This invention relates to an automatic machine for feeding, cutting off and applying stitching to the ends of lengths of tube-shaped containers of fabric or like material, such as are commonly used for covering hams, bacon slabs and the like.

Tube-shaped or hose like lengths of fabric, preferably wound upon reels, are fed into the machine where they are cut off in uniform lengths; at the same time one end thereof is sewed shut and the 10,; individual finished stockings or covers are discharged from the machine.

. An object of this'invention is to provide a machine for the above purpose, which will discharge finished covers in rapid succession so that the 11-5; operation thereof may be said to be practically continuous.

Another. object is to provide means whereby the machine may be fed from a plurality of sources of suppiy for purposes of efiiciency.

Another object is to provide a novel means for feeding the tubular material to the machine from reels.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

; on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2, parts being broken away.

ting 01f lengths of tubular fabric of the character abovedescribed and closing one end thereof by stitching, were separate operationseach requiring separate handlingof the individual covers or stockings. The machine of the present invention is designed to not only perform the cutting and stitching operations simultaneously, but to also feed the tubular fabric from reels orthe like to the shears and stitching mechanism, at an increased rate of speed. The time and labor thereby saved considerably reduces the cost of production of such covers orstockings.

In the drawings, 8 represents the frame of the machine which supports a main shaft 9 and a -counter shaft 10 driven in any suitable manner Prior to this invention, the operations of out he m o A st t hi 9r e n ach ne 12 is driven by means of the beltor chain 13 which cooperates with a pulley or sprocket on a driven shaft preferably shaft 9. Angular gearing 14 of a suitable typeprovides for rotation of Q9 a cam shaft 15 from shaft 10.

. Wide conveyor belts of canvas or other suitable material are indicated by 16 and 1'7, belt 16 serving to carry the tubular material 21 from 05011:- lating guides 19 and 26 to the stitching machine .6 5 and cutter, and belt 17 serving to dischargethe finished covers or stockingsafter receiving them from the-delivery portio'nlS of belt 16. InFig. 1, the stitchingne'edle ofthe sewing machine 12 is indicated by 22. Closely adjacent the needle 'is' the cutter 23, which comprises a sharpened recipe rocating blade arranged to perform the cutting operation simultaneously with the stitching op eration of the needle inthe manner of the usual sewing machinetrimmermechanism.

The feed belt 16 may bedriven by a chain 24, or other positive drive means, passing over sprockets 2 5 and 26iixed upon the cam shaft and conveyor belt shaft 27, respectively. The discharge conveyor 1''? may be driven by the same chain engaging a sprocket 28 fixed upon one of the discharge conveyor shafts 29 An idler wheel for the chain is indicated by 30.

From the foregoing it should be apparent that the motor drives the belts 16 and 17 in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows. Should it be desiredfhowever, to discharge the finished stockings at the rear of the machine instead of at the front, the direction of movement of belt 17 could be reversed by disposing ChalllQl: on 9.0 the opposite side of sprocket'28. Directly alongside of belt 16 is a narrow auxiliary belt 31, preferably, of leather or other frictional material, mounted upon rollers 32 and driven at the same speed and in the same direction-as belt 16,. The top surface of belt 31 lies in substantially the same plane as the top surface of belt 16, and one end of the tube shaped material isadapted to lie upon and be pressed against belt 31, by a means about to be described, for positively advancing the end of the tube shaped material during the sewing and cutting operation. The pressure means justmentioned comprises preferably a chain 33 disposed directly above but spaced from belt 31, and supported upon sprockets 34 fixed upon shafts 35. One of said shafts has fixed thereon a sprocketor-pulley 36 driven, by means of a chain or belt 37, by a sprocket or pulley 38 fixed onto shaft 29. The arrangement is'such thatpressure chain 3 3iS-driven in the directionof the arrow at a speed corresponding to that of the belt 31. At intervals along the chain 33 are secured spring urged fingers 39, which yieldingly strike and bear downwardly upon the tube shaped material 21 for the purpose of holding the end of the material against or upon the moving belt 31 during the sewing and cutting operation. In this manner there is provided a more positive advance of material relative to the sewing mechanism than could otherwise be attained. It will be understood that the knitted material, while undergoing the sewing and cutting operation exemplified in Fig. 3, is in a somewhat stretched condition, and that after severance by the sewing machine cutter means said material will naturally slip back, to some extent, into its delivery tube, in which the material is loosely disposed. The reel from which the material is fed to the guides 19 and 20 is rotated, as isusual, by the paying out of the material wound thereon. Friction opposing rotation of the reel is relied upon for effecting slight tensioning of the knitted material.'

Having described the simple means whereby the tube shaped material is cutinto lengths, sewed closed at one end, and conveyed from the sewing and cutting mechanism, it will now be explained how the tube-shaped material is brought, in the first instance, into position for the above described sewing and cutting operations.

From a" pair of reels (not shown) carrying continuous lengths of tube-shaped material 21, the said material is inserted, in afiat or collapsed condition, into the guides 19 and 20 (Figs. 1 and 2), which guides consist of flattened tubes of metal or other suitable material. The guides are supported for relative partial rotation to operative and inoperative positions with respect to a pick up device 40 (Figs. 1,- 3, 4 and 5) having sharpened grippers or teeth 41 for grasping an end,"such as 42 (Fig. 3) of the reel material 21. The pick up device preferably is secured to a constantly moving chain 43 and is adapted to release its hold on the tube material upon withcent parallel planes.

drawal from the guides of a predetermined length of material. r

In order to alternately, subject the material of the guides to the pickup device,the following mechanism is provided. To the frame of the machine is secured a bracket 44 adapted to rotatably support a pair of vertical guide supports 45 and 46; each being movable independently of the other. To the lower end of support 45 is fixed the guide 19, and to the upper end of support 46 is fixed the guide 20. It will be apparent from the drawings that the guides are movable in closely adja- The arrangement of the guides is such that when one is moved into the operative position in the path'of movement of the pick up device, the other guide is moved to one side so that the pick up device cannot remove tubular material therefrom. The means for thus moving or rotating the guides comprises a system of links operating by a cam 47 on the cam shaft 15.

The cam is a disc having an extending stud 48 thereon, and adapted upon rotation of the disc to alternately strike and move the spaced arms 49 of alink 50 having a pivotal mounting upon lowing elements.

guide support 46 and thereby moving the guide into or out of alignment with the pick up device. The means for similarly moving the'other guide 19, comprises a connecting link 56 having its ends pivoted to the disc and a crank 57 fixed upon a rock shaft 58. At the upper end of the rock shaft, there is provided a lever 59 which cooperates with a link 60 and plate 61 on the upper guide support, in a manner similar to that just described relative to member 46. By means of the foregoing construction, rocking movement of the, link 50 is translated into rotational movement of the guides 19 and 20 for alternately disposingthe guides in an operative position in the path of movement of the pick up device 40.

The means cooperating with the pick up device for withdrawal and positioning of the tubular material to be operated upon comprises the fol- The pick up device 40 is suitably mounted upon a link of the continuous chain 43 which is supported by the rotatable sprockets 62 and 63. Sprocket 63 may be driven by means of a chain 64 passing over a sprocket 65fixed upon shaft 10. It will be noted that chain 43 carries a plurality of pick up devices 40 so spaced upon the chain that when any of them has completed its function of withdrawing a predetermined length of tubular material from one of the guides 19 or 20, the other will be in position for grasping the end, such as 42, of material extending from the other guide (Figs. 3 and 4). It should be clearly apparent from the foregoing, that upon withdrawal of a length of tubular material 21 (shown by broken lines in Figs. 3 and 4) and release thereof by the forward pick up device, the portion withdrawn will be moved toward the sewing and cutting mechanism by reason of the swinging of the guide and movement of belt 31 and conveyor 16, whereupon the second pick up device will be in the position indicated in Fig. 3 for withdrawing a length of material from the lower guide 20. In this manner, the lengths of material are placed upon the conveyor 16 in closely spaced relation, with the result that there is but little excess stitching and cutting movement between the lengths. As the sewing mechanism is continuous in operation, the consecutive finished covers or stockings will be joined by short lengths of stitching. The machine is provided with means for separating or isolating one another of the finished stockings which means will be described later.

The pick up device above referred to consists of a channel-shaped bodypor'tion 66 having legs 67 secured by any suitable means to the chain 43, said body portion having longitudinally extending flanges 68 thereon. The forward end 69 of the body'portion has pivotally mounted thereon a complementary channel member '70 likewise provided with longitudinal flanges 71, the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter. In the member 70 are provided perforations 72 adapted to receive thesharpened pins 41 on member 66. The known relative positions of members 66 and '70 are shown in Fig.3, .the sharpened pins being extended through the perforations for picking up material from the guides, for example, guide 20. Release of the material from the pins is effected by an adjustable trip 73, the

end 74 of which is adapted to contact the flange 71 on the upper, plate 70, thereby moving said plate about its pivotal mounting for the purpose of raising the perforate portion thereof above the sharpened ends of the pins 41,as shown in Fig. 4. Thetrip member .73 may be slidably mounted upon a stationary rod 75 or other suitable part,

and may be mounted in adjusted positions by means of aiset screw or the like '76. It will be noted that the chain 43 rests upon a suitable track 77, or other support, which may be mounted upon a bracket 78 fixed to the machine frame. If desired, the plates '70 and 66 may be yieldingly retained in the operative position shown in Fig 3-bymeans of a spring or equivalent devices.

, As stated before, the successive lengths of matonal-severed and sewed while moving along the belts .16 and 31, are connected by stitching. Means are provided for cutting stitching upon termination of the sewing and cutting operations, said means comprising a pair of shear blades one of which is movable in synchronism with the forwarding mechanism. As is best shown in Fig. l, the shear member 79 is secured at 80 to a stationary part 81 of the machine, while the movable shear member 82 is pivoted at'83 and connected by means of pivoted links 84, 85, and 86 to a cam mechanism on the cam shaft (Fig.2). The link 86 may be reciprocated once for each feeding operation of the tubes 19 and 20, so as to actuate the shear 82 for severing the threads or stitching of' the successive finished covers or stockings. The proper timing of said shearing operation is secured by actuating the link 86 by means of a cam operating once for each revolution of the cam shaft 15. As shown in Fig. 2, the link 86 may be moved .by means of an extending lug 87 on the cam member 47, which lug may strike and move the lower end 88 of link 86. A weight 89 may be employed for holding the shears in a normally open relation.

The operation of the device is as follows. Lengths of tubular material are disposed in the tubular guides 19 and with the free ends thereof extending slightly beyond the guide ends. When the motor 11 is energized, the belts 16, 17, and 33 are driven in the directions indicated by the arrows, whereby tubular material advanced by the pick up devices 40 may be moved laterally toward the sewing mechanism for the stitching and cutting off operations. The length of cover or stocking to be produced is determined by the position of the trip member '73 upon its supporting rod '75. By disposing the trip member to the left of the position indicated in Fig. 4, a greater length of material will be drawn from the reel before actuation of the releasing means of the pick up device. A positive lateral movement of the material is effected by the spring urged member 39 which presses the material upon the frictional surface of a driven belt 31 traveling at a speed equal to that of the conveyor belt 16. After one of the tubes (19 or 20) has functioned to supply a length of material to the machine, said tube is moved to an inoperative position by means of the mechanism connected with forked member 50 which imparts partial rotation to dispose the other guide in the operative position, whereupon the second pick up device may grasp a length of material therefrom. Thus it will be clear that one of the pick up devices always takes its material from tube 20, while the other takes it from tube 19. After having been sewed and out off, the stockings or covers, then connected by a short length of stitching, are moved by the conveyor belt 16 to a position wherein the connecting stitching is severed by means of the shears 82 which are actuated by the stud 87 on cam 47. The disconnected and finished covers or stockings thereupon are moved along the belt 16 until they drop upon the driven belt 17 which conveys them from the machine. It is to be understood'that various modifications and changes in structural details of the device may be made within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention. i

What is claimed is:

1. In combination a movable pick up means for drawing predetermined lengths of materiairrom a plurality of sources of supply, and a guide means for each source of supply, said guide means being successively movable to operative and inoperative positions relative to the pick up means for alternately directing the lengths of material laterally away from the pick-up means.

2. In combination a movable pick up means '9 for drawing predetermined lengths of material from a plurality of sources of supply, a plurality of guide means, one for each source'of supply, said guide means being successively movable to operative and inoperative positions relative to the path of movement of the pick up means for alternate shifting of the lengths of material withdrawn from the sources of supply,'me'ans for eut ting off the lengths of material and applying stitching along the line of cutting, and means for 1 positively advancin'gto the cutting and stitching means the material withdrawn by the pick up eans. a

3. The combination of guide 'means through which may pass a continuous length of material to be operated upon, a movable means, a pick up device mounted upon the movable means and adapted to grasp an end of the material extending from the guide means, said pick up device comprising a body fixed uponthe movable means, a sharpened pin extending from the body, a perforate plate mounted for movement relative to the pin, the pin being normally extended through the perforationof the plate for grasping the material the guide means, means for moving the perfo- 118 rate plate beyond the sharpened pin whereby to dislodge the picked up material from. the pin, a conveyor for receiving'the picked up material, and a sewing and cutting mechanism adjacent the said conveyor for cutting off lengths of mate- 199 rial from the source of supply and for applying stitching along the line of cutting.

4. The combination of guide means through which may pass a continuous length of material to be operated upon, a movable means, a pick up 5 device mounted upon the movable means and adapted to grasp an end of the material extending from the guide means, said pickup device comprising a body fixed upon the movable means, a sharpened pin extending from the body, a perforate plate mounted for movement relative to the pin, the pin being normally extended through the perforation of the plate forgrasping the material of the guide means, means for moving the perforate plate beyond the sharpened pin whereby 133 to dislodge the picked up material, a conveyor means for advancing the picked up material, a sewing and cutting mechanism adjacent to the said conveyor means, a positive advance mechanism for feeding material to the sewing and cutting mechanism, and a shear operating synchro-. nously with the pick up means for severing stitching applied by the sewing mechanism.

5. In combination a conveyor, movable pick-up means for successively withdrawing predetermined lengths of material from a plurality of sources of supply and releasable for disposition of said lengths of material upon the conveyor, a, guide means for each source of supply said guide means each being successively movable to opera- 1 tive andinoperative positions with respect to the pick-up, means, and operating to shift one end of each length of material toward the conveyor,

7 and means for effecting a cutting operation upon the said material. 7 i

6. In combination a conveyor for carrying lengths of soft fabric material toward a discharging station in substantially side by side relationship, a pick-up means moving lineally in a direction transversely of the direction of movement of the conveyor for successively drawing predetermined lengths of the soft material from a source of supply, said pick-up means including a releasable gripper to grasp and hold one endof the soft material while pulling it lineally transversely of the conveyor until a predetermined length thereof is withdrawn, means for effecting release of the material from the gripper, means for effecting transferring of the withdrawn material onto the conveyor, and a sewing and cutting means for severingthe withdrawn lengths of material from the source of supply and applying stitching along the line of cutting. 7. In combination a conveyor for carrying lengths of soft fabric material toward a discharging station in substantially side by side relationship, a pick-up means moving lineally in a direction transversely of the direction of movement of the conveyor for successively drawing predetermined lengths of the soft material from a source of supply, said pick-up means including a releasable gripper to grasp and hold one end of the soft material while pulling'it lineally transversely of the conveyor until a predetermined length thereof is withdrawn, means for efiecting release of the materialfrom the gripper, means for efiecting transferring of the withdrawn material onto the conveyor, sewing and cutting means for severing the withdrawn lengths of material from the source of supply and applying stitching along the line of cutting, and a shearing means for severing the stitchingbetween the lengths of stitched material so as to isolate them one from the other. I

o 8. In combination a conveyor for carrying lengths of soft fabric material toward a discharging station in substantially side by side relationship, a pick-up means moving lineally transversely of the conveyor and traversing thee'ntirerwidth of theconveyor for successively drawing predetermined lengths of the material fromasource of supply and into a position fo'r'reception there of by the conveyor, said pick-up means including a releasable gripper to grasp and, hold one end of the material while pulling it lineally transversely of the conveyor until a predetermined length thereof is withdrawn, means for eiTecting-release' of the material from the gripper. at a predetermined time, means for effecting transferring of the withdrawn material onto the conveyor, and sewing and cutting means operating to simultaneously sever the Withdrawn length from the source of supply and apply stitching along the line of cutting. 9. In combination arconveyor, a movable pickup means for successively withdrawingipredeter mined' lengths of material from a plurality of sources of supply and releasable for disposition of said lengths of material upon the conveyor, a guide means for each source of supply, said guide means each being successively movable to operative and inoperative positions with respect to the pick-up means and operating to shift one end of each length of material toward the conveyor, and means for effecting a subsequent operation upon the said material upon release thereof by the pick-up means.

i ELIJAH L. FLOYD. 

